Take Steps to Burglar-proof Your Home

Don’t make your home an easy target for burglars. Take simple steps to keep your home secure:

Keep doors locked. Whether you are home or leaving the house to run a quick errand, it’s a good practice to keep doors locked.

Walk around your house, and go room to room to look for easy ways for intruders to gain entry. Opportunity and access can make your home a target.

Buy timers that automatically switch lamps and radios on and off when you’re not at home. Install a motion detector light over your garage, and at entryways. At night, the lights will go on when you arrive home, or if someone walks up to your house.

When you move into a new home, have the locks changed immediately. Get a deadbolt lock system. Your installer will provide a lock system for all doors that use the same key.

Avoid giving copies of your house keys to service providers, such as housekeepers or dog walkers.

Trim overgrown trees and shrubs around your house that may shield an intruder from view.

It’s never a good idea to allow a stranger into your home, whether the person is asking you to sign a petition or offering to trim your trees. The person may be trying to “case” your home and return later to steal valuables.

If you are going on vacation, make sure you stop newspaper and mail delivery, or ask a trusted neighbour to collect the items, so they do not pile up at your house.